Congratulations and wishes

I congratulate you. My congratulations to you. May all your dreams come true. Happy birthday to you! Many happy returns! Happy New Year! Merry Christmas! I wish you good luck! Good luck (to you)! Have a nice holiday! A happy weekend to you! Have a good time! Have a nice trip! Have a comfortable journey! Have a good crossing! Happy landing!	Поздравляю (вас). Желаю исполнения всех ваших желаний. Поздравляю с днем рождения! С Новым годом! Счастливого Рождества! Желаю удачи! Желаю хорошо провести отпуск! Желаю хорошо провести выходные дни! Желаю хорошо провести время! Счастливого пути! Счастливого пути (морское путешествие). Счастливого пути! (путешествие самолетом).
Replies
Thank you. Thank you. The same to you. Happy Ney Year! Merry Christmas!	Благодарю вас. Спасибо. И вам желаю того же. С Новым годом! Счастливого Рождества!

Get it right Congratulate, Congratulations

Congratulate and congratulations are used when a person has been successful or fortunate in something, for example, if he has passed an examination, or won a prize or sporting event, been promoted at work, got engaged to be married, or married.

For example:

passing your exam.

Congratulations on winning the competition.

your promotion.

your engagement.

Note that I congratulate you (on ...) is not usual in colloquial speech, although the verb occurs widely in formal style,

For example:

1. He congratulated the team on their victory.

2. He congratulated her on getting into the university.

Note the use of the preposition on in all these sentences.

Congratulate and congratulations may also be used with reference to birthdays, but (A) happy birthday or Many happy returns (of the day) is more common,

For example:

1. (A) happy birthday, Jean!

2. Many happy returns (of the day)!

3. He wished her happy birthday/many happy returns (of the day).

Congratulate and congratulations are not used with reference to festivals and public holidays. In Britain there is a special greeting (not congratulation) for each important traditional festival, usually with the word happy.

These are: (A) Happy/Merry Christmas!

(A) Happy New Year!

(A) Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

(A) Happy Easter!

These greetings are used in sentences as follows:

For example: 1. He wished them all a happy Christmas.

2.1 should like to wish you a (very) happy New Year.

There is no general greeting which can be used for any festival (like the Ukraine «С праздником!»). The only solution to the problem of finding suitable greetings for festivals which are not observed in Britain is to use the word wishes, for example, as follows:

B est wishes Woman’s Day

Very best wishes for Victory Day

My (our) best wishes Christmas Day

On is sometimes used instead of for, particularly if the greeting is spoken or received on the day itself.

In many cases no verb is necessary with these expressions. We can say (or write) simply, for example:

(Very) best wishes for Victory Day.

If a verb is needed, give is probably the best choice:

For example: The students gave the teacher their best wishes for Women's Day.

Greetings may be used in writing for some festivals.

For example: May Day greetings

Victory Day greetings

The verb send occurs with greetings.

For example: We send May Day greetings to all our readers.

EXERCISES